Ray Ferraro
| birth_place = Trail, British Columbia, Canada | draft = 88th overall | draft_year = 1982 | draft_team = Hartford Whalers | career_start = 1984 | career_end = 2002 }} Ray Ferraro (born on August 23, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current broadcaster for TSN Radio 1040 and TSN. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Hartford Whalers (1984–1990), New York Islanders (1990–1995), New York Rangers (1995–1996), Los Angeles Kings (1996–1999), Atlanta Thrashers (1999–2002) and the St. Louis Blues (2002). His nickname was the "Big Ball of Hate," given to him by his former Rangers teammate Glenn Healy. Playing Career Ferraro was a prolific scorer in junior hockey, including a 108-goal and 192-point season for the Western Hockey League (WHL)'s Brandon Wheat Kings in 1983–84. He also was a member of the 1982–83 Portland Winter Hawks squad that won the 1983 Memorial Cup. Ferraro's teammates on the championship-winning team included Cam Neely, Mike Vernon, Brian Curran, John Kordic and other future NHLers. In his NHL career, he scored 408 goals and 490 assists for a total of 898 points in 1,258 games spanning 18 seasons. He was named to the NHL All-Star Game in 1992, held in Philadelphia. He also had two 40-goal seasons. Ferraro had a memorable Stanley Cup playoff run for New York Islanders in 1993, scoring 2 overtime goals against Washington Capitals as [[New York Islanders|'New York Islanders']] defeated both Washington Capitals and the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Ferraro assisted on David Volek's game and series-winning goal during overtime of Game 7 against the Penguins. The goal advanced the Islanders to the Wales Conference Finals, which they lost to the eventual champion Montreal Canadiens. Ferraro finished that playoff season with team-leading totals in goals (13) and points (20). Broadcasting Career Ferraro retired from the NHL on August 2, 2002. He has done work for ESPN hockey broadcasts, including on NHL 2Night with John Buccigross and Barry Melrose, where he began working while still an active player. On that show, Ferraro was often referred to as "Chicken Parm" by Buccigross after an accident with chicken parmesan moments before going on the air. He later worked as a studio analyst for the NHL on NBC, as a colour commentator on Edmonton Oilers broadcasts on Rogers Sportsnet West and on Sportsnet's other hockey programs. Ferraro works as a color commentator and studio analyst for the TSN Hockey. Ferraro provided color commentary for CTV during the 2010 Winter Olympics.After Rogers Media, the parent of TSN's rival Sportsnet, gained the national NHL rights with effect in the 2014-15 NHL season, Ferraro became a color commentator for the regional Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators games on TSN on a rotating basis. On May 5, 2014, EA Sports announced that Ferraro will be an ice level analyst for NHL 15 along with play-by-play commentator Mike Emrick and colour commentator Eddie Olczyk. He returned as an ice level analyst for NHL 16. On November 23, 2015, Ferraro and [[Pierre McGuire|''Pierre McGuire]] became the first hockey broadcaster to broadcast a game where his child also played in the same game, both announcers were at ice level. 'Gord Miller' was the only commentator was in the broadcast booth. In February 2018, he was the color commentator along with 'Chris Cuthbert' doing the play-by-play announcer for men's ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang Career Statistics Accolades *WHL East First All-Star Team (1984) *WHL Player of the Year (1984) *Played in NHL All-Star Game (1992) Personal Life Ferraro's second wife is former U.S. women's ice hockey team captain Cammi Granato, who also worked as a women's hockey analyst during NBC's 2006 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Olympics coverage. The couple has two sons — Riley, who was born in December 2006, and Reese, born in December 2009. Ferraro also has two sons from a previous marriage to Tracey Ferraro — Matt, born in 1988, and Landon, born in 1991. Landon, a centre, was drafted second overall by the Red Deer Rebels in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft and in the second round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft (32nd overall) by the Detroit Red Wings; he was later traded from Red Deer to the Everett Silvertips, where he was named team captain. Landon made his NHL debut with the Red Wings on March 18, 2014. Matt, a former goaltender, was drafted to the WHL in 2003 by the Prince George Cougars, but has since become a financial planner. Following the Swedish women's team upset of the U.S. at the 2006 Winter Olympic games, Ferraro publicly criticised U.S. women's coach Ben Smith for failing to bring the best U.S. players to the games, which led to the team's downfall. His comments were broadcast on MSNBC during the intermission of a men's game. This appeared to be directly related to his wife being cut in August 2005 because she wouldn't give up her NBC Sports job, along with other veterans in favour of younger, faster players. Some critics and fans also questioned Granato's cut from the team and cited it as a factor in the U.S. team's disappointing performance. NBC fired him in response. Ferraro currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. Ferraro played in the 1976 Little League World Series. On April 7, 2008, Ferraro returned to ESPN to call his first ever ''Frozen Four and as the replacement for Barry Melrose, who left ESPN to coach the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ferraro currently works with TSN, which he joined in 2008. He is also the broadcaster between the benches in EA Sports' hockey video games: NHL 15 & NHL 16. Category:1964 births Category:Canadian ice hockey players Category:Hartford Whalers draft picks Category:Hartford Whalers players Category:New York Islanders players Category:New York Rangers players Category:Los Angeles Kings players Category:Atlanta Thrashers players Category:St. Louis Blues players